Characterization of Microbial Communities in a Dairy Farm Matrix in Ningxia, China, by 16S rDNA Analysis

Abstract

A large amount of dairy manure is produced annually in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China due to the increase in food-producing animal agriculture in this region. The presence of bovine-originated zoonotic, especially human, pathogenic bacteria in untreated manure poses a significant threat to the environment and to public health. However, little is known about the composition, diversity, and abundance of bacterial communities in untreated dairy manure in the Ningxia region. In this study, the microbial community structure of the dairy farm matrix was characterized through 16S rDNA sequencing. The impact of manure treatment methods on bacterial communities was also analyzed. The results showed that the microbial community in dairy manure contained both beneficial bacteria and pathogens, with Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Spirochaetes, and Actinobacteria as dominant phyla. The results also showed the diversity and variety of abundance of zoonotic pathogens among different matrices. The number of pathogens was found to increase significantly in the accumulated but untreated manure, which appeared to be the main matrix of dairy farms that accumulated pathogens including zoonotic pathogens. Findings from this study suggested that farm management, particularly proper treatment of manure, is essential to achieve a shift in the bacterial community composition and a reduction in the environmental load of pathogens including zoonotic pathogens.

Cow Farmers’ Homes Host More Diverse Airborne Bacterial Communities Than Pig Farmers’ Homes and Suburban Homes

“…All samples, regardless of the environmental type, were dominated by four bacterial phyla: Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. This is largely consistent with prior studies that showed the predominance of the four bacterial phyla in cow and pig stables and indoor home environments ( Hong et al, 2012 ; Boissy et al, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2019 ). The higher abundance of Firmicutes and lower abundance of Proteobacteria in farmers’ homes relative to suburban homes is basically in line with prior epidemiological findings suggesting that Firmicutes decrease the risk of atopic sensitization ( Lee et al, 2021 ).…”